Certificate in Life Sciences Research Faculty Mentor ApplicationFall Term 2013
Certificate in Life Sciences Research – Faculty Mentor Application
Research active faculty members with primary appointments in the Department of Biological Sciences or graduate training faculty status in the Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh (CNUP) are exempt from filingthe Faculty Mentor Application. Research active faculty members from other units of the University are welcome to sponsor undergraduate students pursuing the Certificate in Life Sciences Research after filing the Faculty Mentor Application and gaining approval from the Research Certificate Oversight Committee. Research topics must be related in some way to the life sciences. This application is only needed once per Faculty Mentor even if multiple undegraduate students pursue the Certificate under their guidance. Student and faculty progress reports will be due each term.
Instructions
A) Please type your application in this electronic format. Save as your name_rescert_fac_mentor_app.
B) Email your completed application file (your name_rescert_fac_mentor_app) to .
1. Contact Information.
Full Name (first, MI, last):
Pitt Email: (your university @pitt.edu account NOT a private account)
Office Phone #:
Lab/OfficeLocation:
Department of Primary Appointment:
Current Faculty Rank:
2. Prior TrainingExperience and Training Environment.
Research work for the Certificate should include “1) Formulation of hypotheses, 2) Experimental design, 3) Data collection, 4) Data interpretation, 5) Drawing conclusions supported by data, and 6) Presentation of research findings. Authentic research experiences include an understanding of the pertinent scientific literature, involve the development of new knowledge, and include a degree of research independence, or development of a path towards research independence.”Please consider this definition in planning research projectsfor undergraduate students pursuing the Certificate.
A) Number of undergraduate researchers mentored during the last year:
B) Number of graduate student researchers mentored during the last year:
C) Please briefly describe a recent undergraduate researcher who achieved some degree of success in your laboratory and outline the project they pursued in a few sentences.
D) Please briefly describe your philosophy about undergraduate research training in your laboratory.What activities do undergraduate researchers attempt? How are undergraduate researchers trained and mentored? Do you conduct regular research lab meetings? Do you conduct a research journal club? To what degree do undergraduate researchers develop their own research directions?
3. Research Proposal. Please briefly outline a typical project for an undergraduate researcher that might be expected to span two terms of part-time activity and that would be consistent with the stated guidelines of the Certificate in Life Sciences Research as outlined above under part 2.
By completing and submitting the Certificate in Life Sciences Research Faculty Mentor Application, you are making a commitment to abide by the guidelines of the Certificate and agreeing to complete and submit the progress reports each term and at the end of the Certificate program in support of each undergraduate student who may be pursuing the Certificate under your guidance. (Your scanned signature is acceptable here.)
Your name: Date:
Signed: ______
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